Raising tobacco duty
Act amending the annex to the Tobacco Excise Duty Act
Tax on tobacco products will be increased in stages in 2020 and 2021. As a result of the increase, prices for cigarettes and rolling tobacco are estimated to rise by an average of 12 per cent.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 7 Oct 2019
- Latest event
- 25 Nov 2019
- Votes
- 0
- Speeches
- 12
- Confirmed
- 29 Nov 2019
- Statute
- 1118/2019
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
Tax on cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, pipe and cigarette tobacco, and rolling tobacco will be increased by an average of 14 per cent in four equal instalments every six months on 1 January 2020, 1 July 2020, 1 January 2021 and 1 July 2021. The increases will apply to the specific and minimum excise duties on tobacco products, while tax rates on liquids for electronic cigarettes and cigarette paper will be kept unchanged.
What it means
The change will raise the price of a 20-cigarette packet and a 30-gram pouch of rolling tobacco by an estimated 1 euro or so, bringing the average price of a packet of cigarettes to around 9 euros. The increase aims to reduce smoking and narrow health inequalities, and it is estimated to reduce tobacco product consumption by around 4 per cent and increase central government tax revenue by 100 million euros a year in full from 2022 onwards.
How Parliament voted
The bill passed without a vote – no MP proposed rejecting or amending it in plenary.
Debate in the chamber
What was argued and where each group stood, followed by MPs' speeches verbatim from the parliamentary record. Speeches are shown in their original language.
12 speeches · 2 debates
Key points of the debate
Parliament debated the phased increase in tobacco excise duty, which aims to boost state tax revenue and reduce smoking on health grounds. The proposal was in principle consensual in Parliament, and no dissenting opinion was tabled. However, the debate addressed the impact of the tax on low-income earners as well as the risks of passenger imports and smuggling.
- Will the tax increase fall disproportionately on low-income earners and widen disparities in living standards?
- Will the rise in tobacco prices increase passenger imports and snus smuggling from neighbouring countries?
- Social DemocratsIn favour
The group supports the tax increase on health grounds and to generate state tax revenue for welfare services. Phased implementation makes it possible to monitor developments in smuggling and imports.
”Tästähän valtiovarainvaliokunnan verojaostossa olemme tehneet tämän mietintöpohjan, ja tässä esitetään ihan yksimielisesti sitä, että yhdymme hallituksen esitykseen.”
— Pia Viitanen - Centre PartyIn favour
The group supports the government proposal and did not oppose it in its floor statement, which focused on commenting on the historical trend in income inequality.
”Tilannehan on se, että tulon jakautumisen tasa-arvoisuuden mittarilla, Gini-kertoimella, se kehitys on ollut suora viiva viimeiset kymmenen vuotta karkeasti ottaen.”
— Esko Kiviranta - GreensIn favour
The group considers the tax increase a justified way to reduce smoking and narrow health disparities in the population. In addition, it calls for investment in health education.
”Itse pitäisin kyllä hyvin tärkeänä sitä, että me käyttäisimme veroeurojamme sitten siihen, että saataisiin ikään kuin valistusta tehostettua ja hyvinvointiin kiinnitettyä huomiota.”
— Outi Alanko-Kahiluoto - Finns PartyIn favour with reservations
The group did not officially oppose the proposal, but raised concerns about the tax burden falling on low-income earners and about increases in passenger imports from abroad and snus smuggling.
”Perussuomalaisten eduskuntaryhmässä on tosiaan vähän ehkä erilaisia kantoja, mutta tätä ei nyt kuitenkaan päädytty vastustamaan.”
— Ville Tavio
This digest was generated by AI from 12 speeches 13 Sep 2026. Group positions are read from the speeches, not from votes; quotations were checked verbatim against the record.
Keskustelu päättyi. Asia lähetettiin valtiovarainvaliokuntaan. [Keskustelu asiasta sallittiin päiväjärjestyksen 3. asiakohdassa]
Yleiskeskustelu päättyi. Eduskunta hyväksyi hallituksen esitykseen HE 25/2019 vp sisältyvän lakiehdotuksen sisällön mietinnön mukaisena. Lakiehdotuksen ensimmäinen käsittely päättyi.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 7 Oct 2019Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Valtiovarainministeriö
- 8 Oct 2019Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 8 Nov 2019Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · valtiovarainvaliokunta
- 13 Nov 2019Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 19 Nov 2019Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 22 Nov 2019Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki tupakkaverosta annetun lain liitteen muuttamisestaHyväksytty · 1118/2019 · 29 Nov 2019
Proposed law text
The law proposals in the bill as the Government presented them. The final act may differ after committee consideration.
The law text is shown in Finnish or Swedish from Parliament's official documents; it is not translated into English.
Laki tupakkaverosta annetun lain liitteen muuttamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti muutetaan tupakkaverosta annetun lain (1470/1994) liite, sellaisena kuin se on laissa 838/2017, seuraavasti:
§
Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 .
Main content of the bill (official)
The summary and title were produced with AI on 13 Sep 2026. They are not official documents – check the details in the original bill. The title and summaries are machine translations of the Finnish AI summaries. Speeches and quotations are always shown in their original language.